Once you pop…: “American Street” Pringles in Japan

August 24, 2009

Ya know, just eatin' snacks and writing about them

They (“they” being Proctor & Gamble) sell a lot of crazy flavors of Pringles potato chips over here in Japan. The two varieties that caught my eye, though, weren’t bizarre, at least if you work under the premise that “bizarre” here refers to “the Japanese eat it.” No, the two flavors I wanted to try the most – and, coincidentally, two tastes I actually might be able to comment on – were the brand’s “American streets” line of chips.

Keeping the situation simple, Pringles sticks to a Tupac-Biggie angle by only having “Los Angeles Street” and “New Yorker’s Street” chips. Yes, grammar sometimes falls to the wayside here.

I've probably made a similar mistake in this post

New York gets the “cheese dog” which probably exists at some push-cart somewhere. Though I don’t know why it comes served on a piece of newspaper, unless some tweakers by the docks also run a lucrative hot dog cart. Oh yeah, and for the Chicago homers out there – WHY IS THERE KETCHUP ON THE HOT DOG GAHHHH YOU CAN’T DO THAT THAT’S A HIGH CRIME GAHHH I CAN’T HAVE A FUNCTIONING HUMAN RELATIONSHIP BECUASE I’M WORRIED ABOUT CONDIMENTS.

OK, so how does it taste?

If you’ve ever eaten the cheese flavored Pringles they sell in America, you’ve basically eaten “cheese dog.” There seems to be a slight BBQ aftertaste that lingers in your mouth for a bit (so, that’s the hot dog?) and no ketchup taste whatsoever. Pretty good actually.

When I think of Los Angeles, I usually picture delicious Mexican food or maybe hippie-dippy health food. According to Pringles, LA’s big-time food is BBQ Chicken, represented on the packaging by a wrap I think you can buy at KFC for a buck. Not very West Coast. Maybe one of those trendy taco trucks sell them? I don’t know, I’m not cool. Maybe taste can save it?

It taste like a BBQ potato chip but with a weird aftertaste. It actually is a little bit…chicken-y, and that kind of creeps me out. The snack also tastes really smoky, so I give Pringles credit for capturing the Southern California experience – it feels like I’m biting into a wildfire with each chip. Not bad, but I need a full glass of water next to me while finishing up the can.

Congratulations New York, the Pringle flavored after your street wins the Japanese Pringle contest. Celebrate appropriately.

(Japanese Fun Fact #7 – I’m told Ponyo, the anime movie about some fish girl, just came out in America. Well, it’s been kicking in Japan for a year now, and is everywhere. You can hear the music all around town. I could buy a Ponyo-themed bowl at my local convenience store. And good luck escaping the DVD, on-sale everywhere from AM-PM to the supermarket.)